Back to the future: predicting climate change hazards

The data insights we have into climate change impacts never fails to surprise: we know that around 4,000 properties are at substantial risk from coastal erosion across the UK, and over the next 80 years this is expected to jump up to around 23,000.

Our data models also show an increase of more than half a million properties that are at high exposure of soil subsidence between now and the 2080s. Additionally, UK households considered to be at substantial risk of flooding is anticipated to rise by almost a quarter (24%) over the next three decades.

Our data also provides intelligence relating to extreme weather conditions and shows us that around 36,000 properties in the UK will be exposed to severe winds by 2070.

Last October, the Law Society published a Climate Change Resolution that outlined the role solicitors can play in addressing the climate crisis, which included a call to action to develop a climate-conscious approach to legal practice.

What does this mean for property lawyers and conveyancers? There is the potential to help clients understand climate change impacts at any given address by providing data insights as part of the due diligence process. Dye & Durham has launched our new Climate Report to help forward-thinking conveyancers inform homebuyers of hazards arising from climate change, starting today and up until 2080.

The aim is to help protect clients’ interests by informing homebuyers about the exposure to associated hazards.

At Dye & Durham, we have been working with insurers and mortgage lenders since 2020 to help them consider climate change impacts by using modelled data intelligence. Doing so helps to inform investment decisions for mortgage origination and decisioning.

Looking into the future in addition to assessing historic data helps conveyancers bridge the gap between the information influencing mortgage decisions, and those which homebuyers are currently able to access.

Climate change is the biggest risk we all face. The past isn’t equal to the present, and the present certainly isn’t equal to the future. Providing insights that consider the past, present and future is surely the only way forward for us all.

Tom Backhouse, Director Insight & Data, Dye & Durham